By Design: The Joe Caroff Story

This is a documentary about the life and work of an engaging, intelligent, extremely talented artist that is, alas, a bit on the dull side. Perhaps that is because, apart from the great movie posters Caroff designed and drew, there is nothing about this fellow's long, successful, and seemingly happy life to grab the viewer. Thus the posters take center stage, which is fine except that once you've seen them then that's really it. I mean, it's not as if Caroff gives us much insight into the creation of them aside from a perfunctory line or two about making the "Manhattan" poster mirror the Manhattan skyline or the 007 poster rendering the 7 into a gun. Nor does he provide us with interesting anecdotes about the films his posters advertise or the people with whom he worked other than that Woody Allen is a cold fish, which we already know, and Sean Connery practiced his golf swing on the set of "A Bridge Too Far". Not exactly Joan Collins stuff, to take just one example of a non dull show biz documentary subject.

Bottom line: An honest poster of this doc would, I am afraid, feature a buncha zzzz's. C plus.

PS... Caroff was 101 when this thing was made. Amazing. Guy has all his marbles (and then some) plus he looks younger than I am and I'm in my early seventies. I'll have whatever he's eating. Or drinking.